News and Opinion

Home secretary Priti Patel has been mocked for continuing to claim “tests are available” rather than acknowledge that the public are struggling to get them. Patel appeared on BBC Breakfast to answer questions about the fact people in some of the worst areas for coronavirus have been unable to get the kits to decipher whether […]

Here is how your MP voted on Boris Johnson’s Internal Market Bill which attempted to override the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and international law. Labour’s amendment to block the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill from receiving a second reading was defeated by 349 votes to 213, giving the government a majority of 136. On the actual […]

The chair of the 1922 backbench Tory committee has told the prime minister he will not be voting for his Brexit bill. Addressing the House of Commons, Charles Walker initially used the opportunity to express his anger over the government’s coronavirus restrictions. ‘I am extremely concerned we are placing severe restrictions on people’s liberties without […]

A Labour MP has said he is ‘at a loss as to what the government is trying to achieve’ after he pointed out Margaret Thatcher would not have backed such the Brexit bill Boris Johnson is proposing. Darren Jones said he initially expected the Tories to listen to Nancy Pelosi’s remarks in America that if […]

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has warned Tory MPs not to follow the prime minister by breaking the law, telling them they have a ‘legal, moral and ethical’ duty to vote it down. He told the Commons: ‘This is a test for the House this evening, do not wait for the committee stage. Legally, morally, […]

WILL HANMER-LLOYD explains how behavioural science could help swing November’s election – and decide whether Donald Trump returns to office. The upcoming presidential election is seen as one of the most important in generations, in that it not only dictates the future direction of the US for decades, but potentially the very nature of the […]

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has goaded Boris Johnson for being the man who ‘got Brexit undone’. The shadow cabinet member was filling in for Keir Starmer as politicians discussed the government’s Internal Market Bill, which plans to override parts of the Withdrawal Agreement. The former opposition leader sparked some angry looks from the prime […]

The government is set to face huge public backlash after deciding to add hunting and shooting clubs to the ‘Rule of Six’ exemption list. Prime minister Boris Johnson could have a new rebellion on his hands after it emerged grouse shooting and other ‘hunting’ with guns were exempt from new coronavirus restrictions, the Huffington Post […]

Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said that Boris Johnson’s Brexit ‘negotiating tactic’ has backfired. Leo Varadkar said countries including the United States are questioning future trade deals with the UK over its handling of the latest Brexit fallout. Varadkar called for the British government to change its mind on its plan to break international law […]

The government’s request that members of the public report people who break new lockdown rules has backfired spectacularly on social media. Twitter users found it irresistible not to mock the government which was asking UK citizens to abide by new domestic laws concerning the coronavirus while pushing ahead with plans to break international law. The […]

The BBC has sparked a backlash after it cancelled airing Nicola Sturgeon’s daily press conferences weeks before Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer’s televised press briefings begin. BBC One in Scotland has aired the Scottish first minister’s daily coronavirus briefings, much like the English version did so with Boris Johnson’s Downing Street sessions, since the start […]

The government’s crime minister has said he will vote for Boris Johnson’s new Brexit legislation – even if it breaks the law. Speaking ahead of the Commons debating the Internal Market Bill, Tory minister Kit Malthouse said he will vote for the proposals even if they breach international law. Malthouse told BBC Breakfast: ‘I’ll be […]

Boris Johnson’s hopes of a trade deal with the US hang in the balance after peers threatened to kybosh legislation allowing the import of chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef into the UK. Peers are preparing to holt legislation that would amount to a watering down of UK food and animal welfare standards, one former government […]

Keir Starmer has been told to self-isolate after a family member showed signs of coronavirus symptoms. Sir Keir had been expected to lead the opposition in the House of Commons to Boris Johnson’s proposed internal market bill that would override Brexit legislation. He will now work from home as a family member awaited results of […]

A Tory former minister has said Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill currently moving through parliament ‘arguably isn’t a violation of international law’. Former Northern Ireland minister Theresa Villiers insisted the government was not breaking international law because it had not yet invoked the legislation. Villiers comments come as a group of Tory backbenchers prepare to rebel […]

A migrant who fled poverty to build a successful immigration advice service in the UK is now offering free legal guidance for refugees attempting to cross the Channel, in the hope of saving lives. Yash Dubal, director of A Y and J Solicitors, has been dismayed by scenes of migrants crossing from France aboard flimsy […]

Keir Starmer has claimed that the public are becoming ‘almost number’ from Brexit and the ‘tiresome’ debates surrounding it. The Labour leader said Johnson needed to ‘get on with’ getting a deal with the EU rather than re-treading old ground. Appearing on LBC, he said: ‘Boris Johnson is all over the place. Have your say […]

Boris Johnson’s senior adviser Dominic Cummings has tightened his grip on Number 10 with a shake-up of operations at the heart of government. Politico reports that Johnson has appointed three new deputy chiefs of staff, with a former Michael Gove adviser promoted, along with a former Vote Leave veteran, and a protégé of Cummings. Number […]

The Japan free trade deal has committed the UK to stricter state aid rules than what is being offered in Brexit talks with the EU and according to legal professionals could seriously undermine the Britain’s negotiating position. The trade deal was hailed a success by the government’s key negotiator in the talks, international trade secretary […]

Former Tory prime minister David Cameron has said he has ‘misgivings’ about Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans, and urged people to look at the ‘big prize’. Cameron was asked about the prime minister’s possible breach of law in trying to override the Withdrawal Agreement. He said: ‘Passing an Act of Parliament and then going on to […]

Boris Johnson’s former attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, has branded Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan ‘unconscionable’. The Tory MP said there is ‘no doubt’ the ‘unpalatable’ implications of the Withdrawal Agreement were known when the prime minister signed it, a time when Cox was the chief law officer. The Brexiteer warned he would not back the UK […]

An expert has perfectly demonstrated the hypocrisy surrounding Brexiteer outrage over trade talks between the UK and the EU in just 90 seconds. Polly MacKenzie, chief executive of thinktank Demos, explained that the government had done a ‘good thing’ by signing a free-trade agreement with Japan. But MacKenzie, who previously helped write the 2010 Coalition […]

A Brexiteer peer has claimed MPs who vote against Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill do not really care about the fate of Northern Ireland, sidestepping questions over the legality of the prime minister’s legislation. Kate Hoey, a former Labour MP and politician from Northern Ireland, said those who voted against Johnson’s latest bill were violating the […]

Only a quarter of voters support Boris Johnson’s law-breaking plan to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, new polling suggests. The polling suggests that the government is in ‘deep trouble’ with voters over its admission it would break international law to change its Brexit plans. Some 47% of voters say planning to break the […]

Michael Gove has insisted he is ‘incredibly flattered’ by a Spitting Image puppet that appears to make his face out of two genitals. The programme is returning to TV screens with more than 100 puppets – including Gove, Dominic Raab, and a new-look Charles and Camilla. Creators have promised a Who’s Who of famous faces […]

Without irony, minister Michael Gove has claimed without a new Brexit bill the UK could be broken up by the EU. Gove echoed the prime minister in declaring that the EU could put ‘at threat the integrity’ of the Union, and insisted the Government could see off a Tory rebellion. In incendiary remarks, Johnson said […]

Labour is using Boris Johnson’s own Brexit catchphrases against him as the party goes on the attack over Brexit and the handling of the pandemic. Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rachel Reeves appeared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show to urge the government to ‘get Brexit done’ and get control of coronavirus. She […]

Labour will back Boris Johnson’s new Brexit legislation if the prime minister addresses ‘substantial cross-party concerns’. The Labour leader accused the prime minister of having ‘turned the clock back’ and of ‘reigniting old rows’ by working to override his own Withdrawal Agreement. Sir Keir contended a free trade deal can still be struck with Brussels […]

UKIP has ousted their leader after just three months and replaced him with Neil Hamilton. Hamilton, a former Tory MP and the last remaining UKIP member in the Welsh parliament, has taken over the top job after Freddy Vachha was removed after little more than three months in post. UKIP’s website lists Hamilton as the […]

Wales’ first minister has delivered a stark warning to Boris Johnson that his latest Brexit bill will ‘significantly damage’ the Union. Downing Street’s controversial internal market bill will do ‘significant damage’ to the union if it becomes law, first minister Mark Drakeford said. The bill transfers powers from the EU to the UK government to […]

LIZ GERARD on how Leave’s biggest cheerleader chronicled the UK’s tortuous departure from the EU through rose-tinted glasses. A pro-Brexit front page from the Daily Express. Photograph: Express/Twitter. – Credit: Archant It was supposed to be the easiest deal in history. We held all the cards. They needed us more than we needed them. There […]

Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme may be to blame for a uptick in coronavirus cases in the UK, a report suggests. An investigation by the University of Oxford said the scheme had led to an ‘extravagant’ surge in people eating out. ‘By the start of August, restaurant attendance had already bounced back […]